Wednesday, March 30, 2011

I haven’t blogged in recent days, not for a lack of lessons to post (I have a whole stockpile of lessons transcribed!), but rather because I’ve been setting up a database. I’ve been going back through the lessons and entering the words and phrases into a database with both the Basic Course and Kaiping Dictionary information. I figured it was about time to put my lexicographic experience to good use! There’s not much spare time for me to do this; most of my work on this blog involves writing up the posts on a Saturday morning and scheduling them to release sequentially during the following weeks. Additionally, I’m in the midsts of revamping my personal website and organizing some of these posts into static pages to make the blog easier to follow and explore for first-time visitors. Until I get that all together, I’m going to hold off on new lesson posts, probably for another two weeks.

Saturday, March 19, 2011

Tell me, how good is it? At least, this is the sort of question this lesson should teach you how to ask. Use the lesson ten vocabulary to translate the sentences below.

1

A: 黄先生，你個夫人好嗎？

Wöng Lhing-Sang, ni gwoi fu-ngïn* hō ma?

B: 佢好好。你個夫人呢？

Kui hō hō. Ni gwoi fu-ngïn* nē?

A: 佢亦好好。

Kui yìak hō hō.

2

A: 黄先生係幾妥個男人呀？

Wöng Lhin-Sang hài gī họ* gwoi näm-ngïn* a?

B: 黄先生係好男人。

Wöng Lhing-Sang hài hō näm-ngïn*.

3

A: 黄夫人係幾妥個女人呀？

Wöng Fu-Ngïn* hài gī họ* gwoi nūi-ngïn* a?

B: 黄夫人係靚個女人。

Wöng Fu-Ngïn* hài hō liang gwoi nūi-ngïn.

4

A: 李先生係唔係好聰明個學生？

Lī Lhing-Sang hài m̈-hài hō tung-mïng gwoi hòk-sang?

B: 係，李先生係好聰明個學生。

Hài, Lī Lhing-Sang hài hō tung-mïng gwoi hòk-sang.

5

A: 李先生係唔係好本事個男人呢？

Lī Ling-Sang hài m̈-hài hō bōn-lhù gwoi näm-ngïn nē?

B: 係，李先生亦係好本事個男人。

Hài, Lī Lhing-Sang yìak hài hō bōn-lhù gwoi näm-ngïn*.

6

A: 該架車係唔係好貴個呀？

Kwọi gạ che hài m̈-hài hō gwi a?

B: 係，該架車係好貴個。

Hài, kwọi gạ che hài hō gwi gwoi.

7

A: 嚀架車係唔係好貴個？

Nịng gạ che hài m̈-hài hō gwi gwoi?

B: 係，嚀架車亦係好貴個。

Hài, nịng gạ che yìak hài hō gwi gwoi.

8

A: 該架車係唔係好平個呀？

Kwọi gạ che hài m̈-hài hō pïang gwoi a?

B: 唔係，該架車唔係好平個。

M̈-hài, kwọi gạ che m̈-hài hō pïang gwoi.

9

A: 嚀架車係唔係好平個呢？

Nịng gạ che hài m̈-hài hō pïang gwoi nē?

B: 唔係，嚀架車亦唔係好平個。

M̈-hài, nịng gạ che yìak m̈-hài hō pïang gwoi.

10

A: 對唔住，對唔住。

Ui-m̈-jì, ui-m̈-jì.

B: 唔緊要，唔緊要。

M̈-gīn-yiau, m̈-gīn-yiau.

There are at least three important grammar points to make here, but best to start with the simplest.

The key new word here is 亦 yìak “also.” Note that in English we say “A is also B” but in Taishanese we say “A亦(係)B.” In other words, make sure that 亦 yìak comes immediately after the first noun, before 係 hài.

The word 個 gwoi is a classifier. We were introduced to this word in lesson seven in the expression 乃個 nại gwoi “who.” More literally, this means “which one.” This word has many, many uses and meanings in Taishanese, but it’s best to deal with each of them as they come up. In this lesson, 個 gwoi is used in two ways: to mark possession and, relatedly, to describe a noun.

We’ll talk about possession first because it’s the easier one. In this sense 個 can be similar to the English ’s. You see it in the first part of the dialogue; the term 你個夫人 ni gwoi fu-ngïn* is: you (ni) + ’s (gwoi) + wife (fu-ngïn*). Again, if we wanted to say “Mr. Wong’s wife,” we’d write 黄先生個夫人 Wöng Lhing-Sang gwoi fu-ngïn*. Importantly, we only use 個 gwoi for possession of a single entities; in order to say “Mr. Wong’s wives,” we’d use 尼 nāi (from lesson four) and write 黄先生尼夫人 Wöng Lhing-Sang nāi fu-ngïn*.

The other way you see 個 gwoi used is to describe a noun. The general structure is: phrase + 個 gwoi + noun. So:

In English 好聰明 hō tung-mïng “very smart” might not be considered a phrase, but it works perfectly as one in Taishanese. After all, you can say 佢好聰明Kui hō tung-mïng “He’s very smart”—or rephrase it to 佢係好聰明個學生 Kui hài hō tung-mïng gwoi hòk-sang “He’s a very smart student.”

You can also choose to leave off the noun, in which case 個 gwoi conveys the meaning of something like “one.” The above three phrases, without their nouns, would be retranslated as:

Friday, March 18, 2011

Finally: adjectives! Are you an excited student? Even if you’re not, this lesson should teach you how to say so. Here’s the lesson ten vocabulary.

對唔住 · ui-m̈-jì · sorry, I’m sorry, pardon me

唔緊要 · m-gīn-yiau · it doesn’t matter, not at all, that’s allright

夫人 · fu-ngïn* · Mrs., madam, wife

黄 · Wöng · (surname)

李 · Lī · (surname)

女人 · nūi-ngïn* · woman, female, wife

男人 · näm-ngïn* · man, male, husband

亦 · yìak · also, too, moreover, in addition to

靚 · liang · beautiful, handsome

本事 · bōn-lhù · capable

聰明 · tung-mïng · intelligent, clever

平 · pïang · inexpensive, economical

貴 · gwi · expensive

架 · gạ · (classifier), frame, final particle

車 · che · car, automobile, vehicle

個 · gwoi · (classifier)

Though I am staying with my Kaiping-accented family in San Francisco this weekend, I’m going to hold off on posting the Kaiping pronunciations. I’m waiting till I get back to LA to reference the Kaiping dictionary, just to be safe. Ui m̈ jì!

Thursday, March 10, 2011

Here’s the dialogue for lesson nine—you can review the vocabulary list in the previous post.

1

A: 你去乃呀？

Ni hui nại* a?

B: 我去陸軍語言學校，你呢？

Ngoi hui Lùk-Gun Ngụi-Ngün Hòk-Hàu, ni nē?

A: 我返去屋企。

Ngoi fan hui ūk-kī.

2

A: 我俾乜你呀？

Ngoi bī mōt ni a?

B: 你俾錢我。

Ni bī tïng* ngoi.

3

A: 你俾唔俾錢佢呀？

Ni bī m̈-bī tïng* kui a?

B: 俾，我俾錢佢。

Bī, ngoi bī tïng* kui.

4

A: 乃個俾錢我呢？

Nại goi bī tïng* ngoi nē?

B: 屐俾錢你。

Kìak bī tïng* ni.

5

A: 逽寄信俾乃個呢？

Nìak gi lhin* bī nại goi nē?

B: 哦寄信俾佢。

Ngọi gi lhin* bī kui.

6

A: 佢寫信俾你唔寫呀？

Kui lhē lhin* bī ni m̈-lhē a?

B: 唔寫，佢唔寫信俾我。

M̈-lhē, kui m̈-lhē lhin* bī ngoi.

7

A: 你送唔送野俾我呀？

Ni lhung m̈-lhung ye bī ngoi a?

B: 送，我送野俾你。

Lhung, ngoi lhung ye bī ni.

8

A: 佢打電話俾你唔打呀？

Kui ā ìng-wà* bī ni m̈-ā a?

B: 唔打，佢唔打電話俾我。

M̈-ā, kui m̈-ā ìng-wà* bī ngoi.

9

A: 逽打唔打電報俾佢呢？

Nìak ā m̈-ā ìng-bo bī kui nē?

B: 打，哦打電報俾佢。

Ā, ngọi ā ìng-bo bī kui.

10

A: 你得閒嗎？

Ni ak-hän ma?

B: 我得閒。你呢？

Ngoi ak-hän. Ni nē?

A: 我唔得閒。

Ngoi m̈-ak-hän

There are some important grammar points to take note of in the discussion.

In Taishanese, when you say that you “give someone something,” the order is opposite. In other words, you always say that you “give something (to) someone.” When you present/send/write/etc. something to someone, you use the same verb-noun order, except you use 俾 bī where we use the English word “to.” When you talk about calling or telegramming someone, you also use 俾 bī because you’re essentially saying you “give someone a call”—only Chinese uses the term 打電話 ā ìng-wà*, literally “hit a call.” Note the following sentences and the order of the nouns and 俾 after the verb.

Wednesday, March 9, 2011

Tell us what you’re up to—or at least this lesson will give you the chance to do so in Toishan (Taishanese). Here’s the lesson nine vocabulary.

俾 · bī (bēi) (ī) · to give, indirect object agent

送 · lhung · to present to

寄 · gi · to send (mail)

打電話 · ā ìng-wà* · to make a telephone call

打電報 · ā ìng-bo · to send a telegram

錢（銀）· tïng* (ngän*) · money

信 · lhin* · letter

寫信 · lhē lhin* · to write a letter

野（田野）· yẹ* (hïng-nẹ*) (ye) · thing, object, affair

乃 (乃處) · nại* (nại-chụi) · where

陸軍 · lùk-gun* · army

語言 · ngụi-ngün · language

學校 · hòk-hàu · school

得閒 · ak-hän · to have leisure time

返 · fan · to return

屋企 · ūk-kī · home

返屋企 · fan ūk-kī · to return

Several of these words have different pronunciations given in the Kaiping dictionary. Some of the accent correspondences were discussed previously, but there’s a new one here: 言 is pronounced as ngün in the Basic Course, but as ngïn in the Kaiping dictionary. I’ve included the list of differences below.

俾 · bēi (ēi) · to give

寄 · gei · to send (mail)

打電話 · ā ìn-wà* · to make a telephone call

打電話 · ā ìn-vo · to send a telegram

錢 · tïn* · money

信 · lhen* · letter

語言 · ngụi-ngïn · language

屋企 · ūk-kēi · home

Beyond pronunciation, some of these words have interesting stories to tell. (But I’ll keep it short.)

In the Kaiping dictionary, Deng Jun prefers to separate the two pronunciations bī and ī as 俾 and 畀, respectively. As I understand, these two characters are commonly considered variants of each other in Cantonese. I virtually only say 畀 ī. For the course notes, I plan to use the same terms the author uses.

Also note that the Basic Course uses the term 野 for “thing,” while the character 嘢 is more commonly used in Cantonese.

It’s important to note some “old fashioned” Toishanisms here. The term 錢 tïn means “money,” but so does the term 銀 ngän. Literally, 銀 means “silver,” the metal once used for currency. Most people these days use 錢 to refer to money. Even so, you should keep your eye out for 銀 in terms like 銀行 ngän-höng “bank.”

Lastly, the term 電話 ìng-wà for “phone” also has another term that was frequently used in Chinese America. The term 喊綫 (or 探綫), pronounced ham-lhin* was particularly popular among overseas Chinese. But if you try using this term in Taishan, odds are only a handful of much older people will understand you.

As always, please feel free to post any questions, observations or suggestions in the comments section.

Sunday, March 6, 2011

Let’s talk about the languages you speak! In lesson eight, you learn how to talk about Taishan/American/Chinese/English language, words and people.

幾妥呀？ · gī họ* a? · how are you? how is it? in what way?

學 · hòk · to learn, study

教 · gao · to teach

講 · gōng · to speak, talk, say, tell

明白 · mïng-bàk · to understand, understandable

寫 · lhē · to write

台山話 · Höi-San wà* · Toishan dialect

美國話 · Mị-Gwōk wà* · American language

中文書 · Jung-Mün si · Chinese book

讀 · ùk · to study, read

英文書 · Ying-Mün si · English book

中文字 · Jung-Mün dù · Chinese character

抑或 · yīk-wàk (ngīk-wàk) · or, either… or

中國人 · Jung-Gwōk ngïn · Chinese person

英文字 · Ying-Mün dù · English word

美國人 · Mị-Gwōk ngïn · American person

曉（會）· hīau (wọi) · to understand, know how

屐 · kìak · they, them

英國話 · Ying-Gwōk wà* · English language

Most of these words have different pronunciations according to the Kaiping dictionary. Here are some of the patterns, most of which I’ve discussed before:

The vowel i in the Basic Course is often (but not always) given as e or ei in the Kaiping dictionary.

The vowel e (sometimes written as ia) in the Basic Course often corresponds to i in the Kaiping dictionary when it is not syllable-final, so 曉 is hīu, but 寫 is still lhē (or lhīa, depending on your accent).

Words that end in ing (or ik) in the Basic Course tend to end in en (or et) in the Kaiping dictionary.

Consonants b and w in the Basic Course are both pronounced as v in the Kaiping dictionary, so 白 and 或 sound alike: vàk.

There is one extra tone in the accent of the Kaiping dictionary, so 屐 “they” is pronounced as kịak (not kìak).

The Kaiping dictionary lacks the consonants gw and kw, so these are simplified to g and k.

Here are the different words, retranscribed according to the pronunciation in the Kaiping dictionary.

美 · Mẹi · America, American

英 · Yen · England, English

人 · ngën · person

國 · gōk · country, nation

明白 · mën-vàk · to understand, understandable

抑或 · ngēt-vàk · or, either… or

曉（會）· hīu (vọi) · to understand, know how

As a last note, like 哦 ngọi “we, us” and 逽 nịak “y’all,” the character 屐 kịak “they, them” is a non-standard adaptation of the character for “clog” to denote a word that otherwise doesn’t exist in contemporary Mandarin or Cantonese.

Saturday, March 5, 2011

Over at Toisan Pride, Toisan Girl (台山妹) provides some common Taishanese words and phrases with her own pronunciations. I’ve provided Chinese characters for some of the words below, but I don’t know them all! Hopefully in future posts, I’ll be able to provide pronunciations according to the two accents in the Toishan Basic Course and the Kaiping dictionary. In the meantime, maybe some readers more fluent and literate in Chinese than I am can help me out with the words I don’t know…

The phrases I’m most unfamiliar with writing are gnot pang pang “stinky stinky,” mwhat koy heng-goh gnui “what a smart obedient girl,” haai-moh “hair.” I also guessed on a number of words above, so any corrections you might like to offer would be much appreciated!

If you haven’t checked out her blog, you should definitely visit Toisan Pride. I’m a dedicated reader, even if I don’t comment all that much.

Update: Many thanks to Facebook friends and to @fivesheep on Twitter who quickly gave me comments! Keep it coming!

Counting above ten is easy. Eleven is 十一 sìp yīt, twelve is 十二 sìp ngì and so forth. Twenty is 二十 ngì sìp, twenty-one is 二十一 ngì sìp yīt and so on. I hope you get the pattern. The pattern is so straightforward and easy to say, that when I was younger I used to like counting to 100 just for kicks. (I was a very lonely child.)

For the numbers according to the Kaiping dictionary, there are just a few small differences, included below.

As with the previous post, the differences between the accents here are few. You should note the tone difference in 逽 (nịak rather than nìak) that I mentioned in the last post. Another recurring theme is the I-E accent distinction. In this dialogue, 你 is pronounced as nei, whereas the Basic Course would pronounce this character as ni.

Granted, there is only one difference here. In several accents, 逽 is pronounced with a low falling tone: nịak. Since the accent in the Basic Course doesn’t have the low falling tone in checked syllables (that is to say, syllables ending with p/t/k) the tone is mid falling: nìak.